Greens urge the need for more 20mph zones

Green MSPs are urging East Dunbartonshire Council to extend 20mph zones to all of the area’s residential streets to stop people being put at risk.

They want the authority to bring in 20mph zones to all residential streets after Scottish Green MSPs published Freedom of Information answers argued to show a “postcode lottery” of road safety across Scotland.

Edinburgh said the majority of its streets are 20mph with a further 810 zones planned, while East Dunbartonshire has only 10 streets in 20mph zones and apparently no plans to introduce any new ones

However the size and urban density of various areas doesn’t appear to figure in comparisons between various areas.

Green candidate for Bearsden South Scott Ferguson said: “Children and the elderly are being put at risk by our failure to deliver safe speed limits where people live.

“This postcode lottery of uncompleted patchworks of part time 20 mph zones across our towns is not enough to deliver safe communities.

“I believe we need to change the law so that 20 rather than 30 mph is the default speed limit in residential areas, and it’s Green MSPs’ intention to bring forward a member’s bill in the Scottish Parliament in the coming months to do just that.

“With lower speed limits, you hugely increase the chance of surviving after being hit by a car. By making 20 rather than 30 the default, we can make built-up streets safer.

“People in communities across East Dunbartonshire support reducing speed limits but this has proven a real struggle, despite the obvious benefits to safety and public health.

“The pace of change is too slow, so new legislation is needed to make it easier for Councils to reduce speed limits consistently.”